V'Ville teacher suspended for misconduct

According to the report, while collecting information about students, Crandall asked a female ninth grade student where she lived, and after she asked why, Crandall responded something to the effect of: "So I can follow you home and come to your house and murder you in your sleep."

The position of Crandall, a teacher in the school district since 1978, was that the comment was not meant as a threat but a "bit of sarcasm."

When the girl's parents became aware of Crandall's alleged comments, the district was contacted and Crandall and the girl's parents met. Following the meeting, her parents sent a letter to the superintendent. In June 2004, the board of education voted to bring charges against Crandall, and in June 2005 additional charges were added and then consolidated.

The additional charges that led to Crandall's suspension stemmed from his alleged retaliation against two students in 2003 who had filed complaints against him in 2001. Both students said that in 2003, Crandall took retaliatory action that included treating them differently from other students in the class, and questioning or making comments to the students about the prior complaints. Following the initial 2001 complaints, Crandall had been given a directive not to retaliate against the students.

A fifth charge against Crandall was not upheld by the hearing officer.

According to Superintendent Linda Langevin, any charge that is not upheld cannot be discussed.

Crandall had been counseled in the past for a variety of reasons.

According to the hearing report, in 1994, Crandall was counseled for walking out of a conference, and in 2001 he was counseled for "slapping students on the bottom." In February 2003, he was issued a letter of reprimand for allowing the boys junior varsity basketball team to swim in the pool before it was open.